Paul Krugman: Fake Alien Invasion Would End Economic Slump (VIDEO)

Paul Krugman is so frustrated by the lack of support for another round of stimulus spending that he's now calling for a fake alien invasion of the United States to spur a World War II-style defense buildup.

Krugman was a guest on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on Sunday. Speaking with Zakaria and Harvard economist Ken Rogoff, he made the same case he has been making for years--that deficits are not the top economic concern of the day. Krugman noted that the effort of World War II helped end the Great Depression, and joked that something similar was needed today.

"If we discovered that, you know, space aliens were planning to attack and we needed a massive buildup to counter the space alien threat and really inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months," he said. "And then if we discovered, oops, we made a mistake, there aren't any aliens, we'd be better--"

"We need Orson Welles, is what you're saying," Rogoff cut in.

"There was a 'Twilight Zone' episode like this in which scientists fake an alien threat in order to achieve world peace," Krugman said. "Well, this time, we don't need it, we need it in order to get some fiscal stimulus."

Of course, Krugman is just using a space invasion as an example. But that hasn't stopped some people from framing his comments as part of a giant conspiracy by a shadowy group of elites to enslave the world through a fake alien attack.

WATCH:

Comments

[Nsaney]

07:56 PM on 09/23/2011

Sounds like a better plan than anything the republicans have come up with. :)

[Mondo Sinistro]

12:07 PM on 09/11/2011

Some of my earliest sci-fi memories involve "The Architects Of Fear" (including the climactic scene, which my local TV station deemed too scary for age 11)). Great entertainment, but doesn't stand up to scrutiny. First, unlike before WW2, we're already eyeballs-deep in debt. Second, WW2 was supposedly great for our economy, but only because competitors were mostly in ruins. Third, WW2 created much employment, but since most of the product got destroyed, consumers were not well off on average. Fourth, given a real alien invasion, does anyone think it would involve armies of millions, and millions supplying them? Most likely, it would be mostly machines vs machines, overseen by elites. Not much entry-level work there. Sixth, if armaments would be a good stimulus now, why not just have a hugely expanded space program? At least there would be benefits eventually feeding back into the economy. We could even start shipping people off-world, but let's be realistic: It wouldn't be happening in this lifetime, much less in this recession.

BTW WRT Keynesian economics: The basic idea is to deficit-spend during recessions, putting money into the economy. In essence, Bush 2 was a Keynesian! He cut taxes to keep out of recession. If he'd stopped there instead of launching wars, it might've made some sense.

I'm probably as liberal as Krugman, but what's he smoking these days? He sounds like the Gipper! But in the end, both Krugman's comment, and Reagan's, will amount to loose armchair philosophizing.

[rgray222]

02:21 PM on 08/31/2011

Read about some real UFO and alien stories that are not part of the fictional plan but part of what has already happened in our history.

http://www.eduacatinghumanity.com

Great stories about the cloak of invisibility that has already been invented and much more!

[srooge]

12:22 AM on 08/28/2011

The man who help advise Enron

[desertman]

08:17 PM on 08/31/2011

The basic point is that the recession of 2001 wasn't a typical postwar slump, brought on when an inflation-fighting Fed raises interest rates and easily ended by a snapback in housing and consumer spending when the Fed brings rates back down again. This was a prewar-style recession, a morning after brought on by irrational exuberance. To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble. - Krugman NYT, Aug 2, 2002

What more needs to be said.

[AustrianDad]

01:53 PM on 08/26/2011

I wrote something about this here: http://www.yaliberty.org/posts/spooky-krugman-says-alien-invasion-good-for-economy

I can't believe this guy is still taken seriously.

[solarflareX23]

06:20 PM on 08/24/2011

Actualyy 'The Architects of Fear', Outer Limits, September '63...

ET Alien Invasion - fait accompli, if you want to know, most don't.

[Dave Harpe]

01:21 AM on 08/22/2011

Why are so many people talking about "alien invasion" lately? Maybe they need a new bogey man, now that Osama bin Laden is gone. Oh my god! What's that in the window?? It.....looks......like ......it's.......from.......OUTER......SPACE....AAAAAAUGH! They got m

[guveqzero]

01:13 AM on 08/22/2011

Some people still think money is more important than life itself. Corporations and the rich worship it. Some posters here think that it's like a lake of water, once used up there is nothing left. But, money is a creation of society, our society. If we wan't to do something important for our future, we can create enough money as need. We don't need to take it from someone else. Money is created for the people with dreams, not the hoarders filled with the fear of losing it.

[Matt Gunnin]

12:14 PM on 08/21/2011

How could Krugnuts not understand that if you give a dollar to one person, you must have taken it from another?

[vinunleaded02]

01:49 PM on 08/19/2011

Paul's comment might have something to do with a new NASA study that shows aliens could invade the earth to keep us from destroying it. LOL I know this sounds out of this world but scientists have been saying aliens exist outside of our solar system but its impossible for these civilizations to make contact. They are now saying its possible they can travel to other star systems and even make war.

Paul is either paid to discredit that study or he has inside knowledge that a fake alien invasion is under way

[fgbouman]

10:09 PM on 08/19/2011

No reputable scientist has ever said that aliens exist outside our solar system.

[Gary DiNardo]

09:31 PM on 08/18/2011

Please, god, let the aliens get here soon. The humans need to be taught some humility. We are NOT the only species on this planet and the sooner the et's get here and see what we're doing to the other inhabitants in order to gratify our whims, the sooner we'll see some justice meted out on behalf of mankind's victims.

[sweetpeach9]

12:50 PM on 08/18/2011

I can't believe this man is being interviewed as an economist who actually has a "solution" to the economic problem. All Keynesian BS, firstly, but it's insulting that he actually thinks that he can pass this off as legitimate. Is this the level to which the intellect of the American public has fallen? It's easier for me to believe that the producers of that newstation thought it would be funny to play a joke, than to believe that anything this guy has to say is actually has thought behind it.

[Joe Tucker]

06:39 PM on 08/19/2011

He is a lefty and he says he has a solution, so he will get interviewed by all of the media.

[Dave Harpe]

01:10 AM on 08/22/2011

Surely you don't think "supply side" works better, after all we have seen, do you? I wish we could go back to Keynesian economics, and the prosperity we had until we stopped doing it. The supply siders, with their huge tax cuts for the rich, have buried the government so deep in debt that it may no longer be possible.

[Colin Fleisher]

03:55 AM on 09/14/2011

Say, in some other world, an entire government, for eight years (1990-98), was composed of "supply siders." Then, the year after the "supply siders" are voted out of office, politicians supporting the "Keynesian" view are elected to office. You believe that the "Keynesians" should continue to increase the debt? Or do you believe that the "Keynesians" should work to decrease the debt?

[Joseph Tilak Madawela]

12:20 AM on 08/18/2011

fake alien invasion-- good idea better is if Obama gets a spinal transplant and confront the extremist Republicans and the brainless tea BAGGERS but seriously a fake invasion is more likely or a 'wag the dog' scenario.

[jefftitle46]

07:03 PM on 08/17/2011

We need a little less fiction and speculation, and a little more research.

[WillofthePeople]

04:38 PM on 08/17/2011

If I were the next president, I'd recruit Paul Krugman first and foremost. I agree with him. We can restore our economy in 18 months, but NOT with the politicians we currently have.

Replace ALL politicians at the federal, state and local levels with "RIGHTtoCONSENT" people. 2012 is our last chance to save our nation and environment. We can't afford 4 more years of the same crap from either dems or repugnicans.